When I was trying to research it, I ran into a lot of the "harbinger of death" interpretations, too. Probably true, to a degree - ain't none of us getting out of this life alive. We all die, eventually, and eventually I will, too. The question is when. I mean, I haven't died in the last 40 years or so, since Tina saw "me" walking in a small town. So, no guarantees there, either. Now, at the time, I was certainly far from home and near to death, but for some reason it didn't take.
Maybe an astral projection of some sort. I've been told I walk in other folks' dreams, too, so I dunno. There was a First Nations gal in British Columbia that swore I often appeared in her dreams as a "black wolf". How she knew it could possibly be me is anyone's guess. I mean, I'm certainly not pretty, but neither do I walk on 4 legs completely covered in hair with pointed ears and a fanged muzzle.
Then again, it could just all be bullshit, too. Folks just seeing things and interpreting them as they wish they were. There seems to really not be a lot of consensus across cultures as to what "spirit doubles" really are. It's kinda all over the map... literally.
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Maybe an astral projection of some sort. I've been told I walk in other folks' dreams, too, so I dunno. There was a First Nations gal in British Columbia that swore I often appeared in her dreams as a "black wolf". How she knew it could possibly be me is anyone's guess. I mean, I'm certainly not pretty, but neither do I walk on 4 legs completely covered in hair with pointed ears and a fanged muzzle.
Then again, it could just all be bullshit, too. Folks just seeing things and interpreting them as they wish they were. There seems to really not be a lot of consensus across cultures as to what "spirit doubles" really are. It's kinda all over the map... literally.
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“Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage among his books. For to you kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment, to be overturned with the flick of a finger.”
― Gordon R. Dickson, Tactics of Mistake
― Gordon R. Dickson, Tactics of Mistake